Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients Announced for 2024

The indie gaming space has no shortage of cute, colorful action titles. However, I’m always curious to see how developers are going to iterate and elaborate on that formula. Developer C2 Game Studio and publisher Versus Evil are coming together to try their hand at the genre, with Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients.

Set to release on PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox consoles sometime in Early 2024, Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients is described as “a third-person action-adventure game set in a fantastical world full of ancient ruins.” While the trailer seems similar to other games in the genre, the world-building might set it apart. Here is what the press release has to say about Monolith and its premise.

“The world of Gliese is threatened by dark forces, revenants from a forgotten time. Astor, a young warrior, must unearth the secrets of the past, exploring majestic, mysterious ruins and ancient temples in an epic fight for the planet’s survival. Only he can gather the ancient powers and legendary weapons needed to stop an unholy ritual.

Journey across an expansive, colorful world, full of mystery and danger. Abandoned ruins and derelict temples from a long-forgotten era pepper the landscape, teasing mysterious tales that you must uncover. Aided by an enigmatic presence, Astor will dive into an intricate storyline filled with iconic and endearing characters. Explore deep forests, sprawling deserts, frozen tundras, and crumbling ancient structures as you embark upon a globe-trotting adventure.

Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients boasts a rich, deeply satisfying combo-based combat system with a variety of ancient weapons and special abilities. Wield the Runic Swarm to summon constructs, crush enemies with massive boulders, or protect himself with a rock formation shield. Master light, heavy[,] and ranged attacks, swap armaments on the fly, block and dodge with precision, and fill up your combo meter to unleash devastating finishers.”

Luis Correa, founder and game director at C2 Game Studio commented on the announcement, stating: “With Monolith: Requiem of the Ancients our goal is to create a mystical world full of whimsical characters and creatures, like the fantasy movies we grew up with back in the 80s and 90s. Beautiful, yet with a tint of darkness.

We wanted to marry a lush, stylized world with first-rate combat, and were inspired by titles like Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, God of War[,] and Nier Automata. Monolith is a love letter to all the grandiose action-adventure games that inspired us so much, both in our youth and to this day!”

Steve Escalante, Versus Evil’s general manager also commented with his thoughts, stating: “The Versus Evil team loved Monolith from the beginning, but it was the combat that really put it over the top for us. Today, there is no more credit for ‘it’s an indie game’ and teams have to meet that challenge, regardless of size or budget.

The C2 Game Studio team, together working with Versus Evil, is intent on blurring the line between AAA and indie. The graphics, animation, production value[,] and scope of the project were miles beyond what I imagined such a small team could be capable of and we are proud to present Monolith as another quality RPG adventure to our line-up.”

While I can’t say I’m super enthusiastic or impressed by Monolith so far, there’s a lot of time to learn more between now and the game’s launch. Of course, without a firm release date, it could be upwards of March or even April 2024 before we see Monolith getting a full release. Either way, I know some people will be waiting for any news that comes up before then.